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VR company named winner of NHSX COVID-19 challenge

VR/AR corporate training company Virti has been awarded funding as part of NHSX’s TechForce19 challenge to gain further evidence and scale its COVID-19 simulations for the health and social care workforce.

As providers struggle on a global scale to meet the demands of increased patient volumes they are turning to volunteers and retired health professionals in addition to reassigning existing clinical staff and medical students to specialties and areas of practise with which they are not immediately familiar.

Health and social care providers then need to quickly train staff at scale so that they are safe and feel prepared to meet the stresses imposed on the system by COVID-19.

Virti is using its immersive training platform to upskill the NHS workforce in order to tackle COVID-19. It supplies COVID-19 specific training to frontline healthcare and community staff internationally.

Virti founder and CEO, and NHS National Innovation fellow Dr Alexander Young, a former trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, said: “Healthcare systems globally are finding it incredibly challenging to scale traditional face-to-face training to meet updated guidelines and to train their workforce quickly and effectively in both community and hospital settings.

“We’re delivering fast and effective training at scale so that the health and social care workforce is prepared and safe when providing vital care to patients in hospital or isolated in the community.”

The competition funding is designed to rapidly gain COVID-specific evidence that will then help to guide wider deployment. Virti’s training platform is already used by the NHS and organisations internationally.

NHSX and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) awarded funding under the TechForce19 challenge designed to help people who are particularly vulnerable or isolated as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Simon Clarke MP, minister of state, MHCLG said: “In these difficult times, it’s inspiring to see how innovative, digital solutions can help combat the effects of social isolation and support some of the most vulnerable people during the pandemic.

“I am impressed by the scope of the winning bids and it is important, now more than ever, to ensure people get the support they need and deserve.”

The TechForce19 competition awarded funding to innovations that offer a digital way to support vulnerable people who need help in the community for extended periods of time. The response saw over 1,600 innovations evaluated.

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